Another wonderful week has gone by which means we’ve had some pretty good discussions along with our lesson. We’ve talked a lot about marriages and relationships in the previous lessons and discussions but this week was really insightful and peaked my interest as it was about parenting. All of us who were born into this world has parents. People may have different and maybe even conflicting thoughts, opinions, and feelings about parents and parenting, which is understandable considering the many circumstances and situations people go through.

            What is parenting? What is the purpose of it? The purpose of parenting is to protect and prepare a child to survive and thrive in the world they will live in. I have mentioned this many times before in my previous blog posts but I strongly believe in the importance of parenting and am eternally grateful for all that my parents have done for my siblings and I. They have been the pillar and support throughout our lives and have always made sure they did their best for us. They may not be perfect but I have been blessed with the chance of witnessing two imperfect people come together and do all they can for their children.

            We learned that when it comes to being effective parents, there are three things that should be focused on which would be beneficial and helpful. They are: response ability, respect, and cooperation. Response ability, as the name suggests, is the parents’ ability to respond to anything the child does. Respect is also something immensely important because a lot of parents tend to think of respect as “I am right and you have to listen to me because I am the adult here” but that cannot be further away from the truth. Respect is something that is earned, not given. This principle applies to parenting too. If parents want to be respected by their children, they need to treat their children with respect and know that they are more capable of a lot more things than they might think. Cooperation is also something that is crucial as a family is a unit. The father and mother of a house may work together, but they are also working together with their children to resolve issues or have good times together.

            Other than that, we also discussed about a child’s needs, the child’s mistaken approach because of the need, and the appropriate parental response. These things are closely related to the response ability of parents that was mentioned above. For example, if a child is in need of physical contact or a feeling of belonging, whether they know it or not, they might take a mistaken approach of seeking for undue attention. This could be dangerous and harmful especially for teenagers. The appropriate parental response to this situation should be to offer contact freely and learn to contribute love to the child’s life. The parents should also be able to teach the child regarding choices and the consequences of those choices.

            Another example is a child’s need or want of power over their own lives. A mistaken approach that the child might take because of this unmet want could be rebellion against anything or anyone. They might also try to control others and want to be the dominant figure in a variety of situations. An appropriate parental response to this scenario could be, but not limited to, their ability to respond correctly to it. This could mean giving the child more freedom to make their own choices, but with appropriate boundaries so the child does not go over the limit and do things they are not supposed to.

            I am so grateful for this week’s lesson as it was extremely insightful and made me realize a lot of things that I saw in my parents’ parenting style. I believe that any success would be overshadowed by failure within the walls of a home. It made me grateful for a lot of things and also helped me make a goal of what kind of parent I would want to be in the future.